Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Chonesday It's one of the most original films you'll likely see all year, which, depending on your threshold for certifiably crazy storylines, could be a rewarding experience or one that frustrates you.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Leofwine_draca Imagine a version of those classic prison movies - PAPILLON, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - updated violently into a futuristic setting and what you'll have is FORTRESS, a gung-ho ride full to the brim of action. And it's a blast. The feel of the film is very similar to that of TOTAL RECALL, and the pair are almost companion pieces. While relatively low budget, the film has something rarely seen these days - imagination! What makes the film so enjoyable to horror aficionados is firstly the talent involved, and secondly the level of extreme violence which certainly spices up the action. Since when did you see one of the prisoners in THE GREAT ESCAPE have his stomach blown out? Christopher Lambert will never win any awards for acting but he is a solid enough presence as the film's hero and his wooden acting is on par with other luminaries like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Doug McClure, how we love them all. And really he is given little to do except fight one thing after another, which of course he does with relish.Locklin brings warmth and compassion to the film as his wife and shows probably the best acting in the entire film, but since when did we watch these kinds of films for acting anyway? Kurtwood Smith steals the overacting awards as the oily prison head, strangely his toupee makes him look years younger. Although this isn't the nastiest, best performance of his career (that honour goes to ROBOCOP), he makes for a compassionate villain, a man with a longing for love.A motley bunch make up Lambert's cellmates, which include a wise old black guy, Tom Towles (the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake) bringing cult value as a brutal thug type, while horror star Jeffrey Combs is virtually unrecognisable underneath thick glasses and long hair. Still, it's not really the acting talent that makes this film so enjoyable, or the plot, which is as I said is merely an updated version of the old escape films. The set design is excellent, and the various mechanical hazards, including the roving cameras and laser beams, the psychedelic dream sequences and also the androids, while tacky, are all great fun. Weirdness prevails when an android's helmet is removed, revealing the rubbery, half-human face underneath! The main gore highlights are the intestinators, kind of like an updated ALIEN chestburster for the 1990s, and they are literally showstoppers. We haven't seen this kind of gut busting since the cheapo days of CONTAMINATION! Added to this are a man who has his chest literally blown out, an extraordinarily bloody fight scene (probably the bloodiest I've ever witnessed on screen, as people's heads are smashed into walls, bars, etc. and spray and pour blood like a low-rent Bruce Willis from the DIE HARD series), a man ripping out his own eyes, and lots of shooting and chests erupting with bullet holes.The bookend to the film, a pyrotechnic stunt involving an exploding truck, is also done very well. FORTRESS certainly was never likely to win any Oscars, but the non-stop action, cheesy dialogue and inventive situations, all presided over by steadfast direction from Stuart Gordon (RE-ANIMATOR), make this one hell of a bloody roller-coaster ride. The prison movie to end all prison movies in the cheesy B-movie fan's mind.

Reilok Kash Fortress - great movie about high-tech prison of future. I liked Christopher Lambert since Highlander and i like Fortress since childhood. It's cool movie with good action, plot and characters (though they are a cliché). But interesting to watch. Any time. Great movie which exist in my mind without sequel. Awesome actors like Kertwood Smith are on background make it only better. May not agree that it's version of Lock up with great Sly Stallone, it's just have similar plot. Little advice: never put your slogan as your password.Pros: +Young Lambert.+co-stars. +action. +goreCons: -sequel

Taylor I'll get this out of the way first: the budget of this film isn't fantastic. Nearly all of the action takes place in the titular Fortress, which consists of a handful of sets used two or three times over. There is also a truly awful make up job - a 'tattoo' that more resembles an enthusiastic black marker.That aside...Despite said bad make up, Fortress features some extremely good practical effects. While avoiding spoilers, some very messy deaths are involved with characters being literally blown apart. These look frankly fantastic, especially (as I'm sure you've heard from every other critic ever) compared to CGI deaths in PG-13 films today. There's something visceral and authentic about them...the idea that what you're seeing is really happening.And despite being restricted to one location, Fortress certainly makes the most of what it has. The Fortress is very well designed, packed with containment systems that the protagonist turns against it. Granted, there is some silliness involved - apparently, there is only one non-lethal way to subdue prisoners, and after that it's straight on to 'blow-to-bits'. But -and this is important- all of it is for a reason. You don't get the sense that something is there just to facilitate someone using it to escape, and indeed the design appears to be based on a real-life idea from Britain - the Panopticon, emphasising prisoners' fear of being watched more than actual effort spent watching them.Characters, then. Honestly, Christopher Lambert's acting is the worst part of the film. In fact, I get the impression that a certain sequence was made just for him, since all he needs to do is zone out for a few hours. It's as if his batteries ran out one day, but the crew had to keep filming so they quickly wrote in an in-story excuse. His character isn't that interesting either - ex-army, highly decorated, a typical 90s interchangeable backstory with little impact on the plot. However, this is more than made up for by the antagonist, Prison Director Poe.Unlike normal villains of the genre, Poe isn't a cartoon character given form - indeed, Kurtwood Smith is rather subdued even by normal villain standards, contrasting with his earlier role as Clarence Boddicker. And also unlike Boddicker, Poe's actually a fairly interesting character - though an aloof, even sadistic Warden, we do see what little personal life he has, and are continually reminded in his scenes that he's still a person - he has tastes, even loves, and by the end of the film it's not even clear whether he's the real bad guy. The rest of the supporting cast do an okay job - I can't think of a stand out performance though everyone does their jobs well. Honourable mention goes to the writers and the director for giving a female character many good action scenes and half of a subplot, even when it would have been incredibly easy to neglect her as post-victory booty.The setting, I should mention, has a very nice atmosphere. Too many films forget that these days, instead going for a more realistic, bland appearance - comparing the first and second of Nolan's Batman trilogy shows it blatantly. Fortress has a dark, smoky look, which helps greatly both to maintain an oppressive, cyberpunk feel, and hide bad FX which is a nice bonus.This isn't a 'bad but fun film' in my opinion, though some may see it that way. It has that look, sure, and if the creators had cast Arnie in the role then it well may have turned out like that. But it has some depth - beyond the exploding bodies and in places absent acting there is thought. If anything, I'd liken it to a Paul Verhoeven film - entertaining, but still immersive, maybe even though provoking.

FlashCallahan In the future it's forbidden to give birth to more than one child for each woman.You can escape to Mexico to avoid the authorities in USA, which is exactly what John and Karen Brennick were trying to do when Karen is pregnant with her second child.When they think they have made it they are discovered and sent to the Fortress, where the prisoners are controlled by lasers, neutron-cannons, cameras, mind-scanners and electronic pain-causing devices in their stomachs.With those odds, John plans to escape with his wife....Here in England, this was released a the worst time possible, literally four weeks after 'No Escape' so by then people would have had their fill of inescapable prison movies.Luckily though, this film never takes itself seriously, and it can be at times,a lot of campy nonsense.Lambert is good as the lead, but a lot of the time, his threats are a little laughable. The story and the set up are smart, but the actual narrative lets it down a little.The final third is what you would expect, with Lambert with his Raiden hair, spilling blue blood everywhere.Fun while it lasts, and then once the sentence is over, you won't remember a single thing from it.